He guided team to playoffs in 2012

That's the first question that has to be asked about the San Angelo Colts, whose 2012 season ended in a two-game sweep against the Fort Worth Cats last week in the United League semifinals. Fort Worth ended up losing to eventual champ Edinburg.

The good news for Colts fans is that manager Doc Edwards says he will be returning for an eighth season with the independent league team in 2013.

"I feel good, so I'll definitely be back next year," the former major league catcher and manager said Wednesday. "As long as the wife (Gay) has to eat, I have to work, you know?"

The jovial 75-year-old says if he wasn't managing the Colts, "I'd sit at home and dry up and blow away. I'd rather work."

Edwards had hinted he might step down after the 2012 season, his 55th year in professional baseball, but he later changed his mind.

The Colts finished fourth in the ULB during the regular season with a 51-45 record, though they had a chance to take second place on the last day of the season.

Cory Patton had a league-high 70 RBIs, Landon Camp was second with 14 home runs and Daryl Jones was fourth with 29 stolen bases.

Pitching-wise, Logan Williamson (9-3) finished with the third-most wins in the ULB to go along with his minuscule 2.88 ERA.

Edwards thinks Patton will get some consideration for league MVP honors because he did so much for the team, including playing in the outfield, being the designated hitter and pitching.

"I thought we had a real great ballclub, and we did," Edwards said. "But it was a ballclub of power, and when the league got some balls that were not good balls, most of the league had problems with it.

"We hit 177 home runs last year, and this year we hit 56 because the balls were not the quality ball that we were used to in the past."

The Colts were at a disadvantage trying to play "small ball" by stealing bases and finding other ways to win besides relying heavily on the long ball, their skipper said.

"We didn't have that type of a ballclub, and we ended up turning things around and started running and trying to steal bases," Edwards said. "In the second half, we got real hot, and we started playing really well.

"We had to just about play like (the other ULB teams) did, and we didn't quite have the team speed they did, so we had to be reluctant and steal when we could."

The bottom line was, Edwards said, teams like Fort Worth and Edinburg were better at playing what he calls "rabbit ball."

The San Angelo fans have a tradition of awarding the Colts players with dollar bills after they hit home runs, and because of the change of the ball this year, they didn't get to show their appreciation nearly as often.

"Our fans here like that kind of baseball, and they love putting the dollar bills in the hat when they hit a home run," said Edwards, who thinks he'll finally step down after another season or two. "Our fans become part of that. There was a lot more cheering and everything because they were included in that."

Edwards says the Colts will try to keep their roster intact as much as possible for next season, but there will always be some players who move on and create spots for some younger talent.

"I don't think anybody ever signed to stay with a local team," Edwards said. "They signed to go play for the Yankees or the Rangers or the Cubs or somebody. That's your life, and that gives you a goal to reach for."

Edwards said a lot of players are attracted to San Angelo because the team has the best host families in the league.

"I'm glad that I got a chance to thank them, every one of them, because without them we couldn't put a good ballclub on the field," Edwards said.

As for the future of the ULB, Colts general manager Mike Babcock says the league could expand to eight teams next year if things work out.

"It's a little early to know exactly what's going to shake out," Babcock said. "But there's a lot of talk about the new park in Abilene. There's been a few other cities thrown around (in discussions) to possibly build new ballparks.

"I think probably by mid-October we'll have a little more of a concrete idea of where those markets will be and whether or not Abilene's on track. The indications that I've received so far is that Abilene is moving smoothly. That would be a shot in the arm for the league. It's definitely what we need."